Good News, and tentative travel plans

Hi,

So I have some good news, which is that the shop actually seems to be sort of running. It's not making a lot of money, but they have a trickle of customers who apparently have not been scared off by mistakes that have been made. It seems somewhat consistent. So I guess I really over-estimated the impact our previous gaffs made.

Here is the long awaited photo of the sign, which is looking pretty snazzy. You may note the drawn in shock on the right hand side of the sign. This is to indicate that they can take suspensions apart and repair them. I don't know why we didn't include that when the sign was designed, because I asked a couple times what we wanted on it. At least it's being advertised now. Also of note in this picture is Route 5, the major road that goes to Phnom Penh, in the background. As you can see, we are fairly close, and therefore have a reasonable amount of traffic that goes by us when people turn off route 5 and go to the market.

Here is another picture of the sign, and on the left side of the picture you can see a customer's vehicle. This guy was in getting a new piston. In the next picture, you can see the parts taken off this vehicle on a mat by the feet of the guy without a shirt on, whose name is Mr. Sovann. On the right, behind the water barrel, is Mr. Lee Him. Standing on the left is Mr. Jiht. I surprised them while they were eating lunch to take the pictures, so in the first one they are looking a little confused, and in the second one Mr. Sovann is laughing out of embarrassment I think. Mr. Jiht actually looks sort of annoyed.


So yeah, the shop is kind of working out. I am taking this coming week off, and I left them some money to pay for any parts and stuff they need. Sai Ha and I came up with a very basic accounting system that I will check out when I get back, to try and figure out how well they are keeping track of money. I don't know when they will be earning enough money to pay the rent, buy parts, and have enough left over to get food, but at least we seem to be gaining momentum.

I think I will pay 6 or so months of rent up front before I leave to give them breathing room on starting to earn enough. Another big development was that they seemed to realize they needed more experience, and agreed that one of them (Mr. Sovann or Mr. Jiht) should apprentice at another shop in SLP. So we came to an agreement with a very successful shop nearby that will allow one of the guys to work there (for a fee) and therefore give that person a lot of good, guided experience. The other guy will work at the shop, doing whatever jobs they can, and then learn from the apprenticing guy when he is done, or after hours.

Let's see..... I guess the only other thing is that they briefly talked about moving the shop to a different, smaller town, because there was only one mechanic there and they thought they could get more customers. But I think the opportunity for the business to grow in SLP is quite good, and hopefully now that one of them will be apprenticing in town they will want to stick it out. This is another reason I will pay rent for several months after I leave, to keep them in SLP.

That's all the shop news. I think I'm sort of running out of things that I feel capable of doing at the shop. I don't want to put myself in the position one of my friends is in. She started a store that employs khmer women to design and make clothes and bags and stuff. It is incredible, and she is making enough money to support the shop and her staff, which is just fantastic. However, she is basically the head decision maker, and It could be difficult for the business to continue if she leaves, which puts her in a difficult position. I'm hoping to stay independent enough of the shop that when I leave it will basically be totally seamless. This can leave me feeling kind of awkward in the shop though, because I'm pretty ready to move on and they seem capable of taking care of stuff when I do.



So. My time in Cambodia is drawing to a close. I am starting to plan trips outside of PP and SLP, which is fantastic. During this week off I may go to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and Nate and Lyndsay (the fellows at global child). I may go to Bangkok for the weekend sometime soon. I'm trying to figure out if It's feasible to go the Malaysian Grand Prix (a formula one race) in early April, and I'm planning a trip to Vietnam and China in mid-late April. So things are looking up in terms of travel. In conclusion, I wanted to add these photos I took of the sunset. These were taken on the way into Phnom Penh. I rode my bike, which is a three speed beach/city bike and was totally inappropriate for the adventure. I'll try to post a picture of it, and its hilarious stickers. The trip was 54 km and took me about 4.25 hours. Slow, painful, and I really only did it out of foolish stubbornness, but it will be a good memory. And I quite like these pictures. Here they are.

So that's the scoop. Hope everyone's been well. Take Care.

Ned.